Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

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Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

This could be the biggest backtrack in gaming history: Microsoft will reverse course on their DRM policies for Xbox One, dropping their 24-hour Internet check-in requirement and all restrictions on used games.

Here's Microsoft president of interactive entertainment Don Mattrick with the news:

Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.

Original story follows:

Citing multiple sources, GiantBomb says Microsoft has decided to remove a laundry list of Xbox One restrictions that customers considered negative:

No more always online requirement
The console no longer has to check in every 24 hours
All game discs will work on Xbox One as they do on Xbox 360
Authentication is no longer necessary
An Internet connection is only required when initially setting up the console
All downloaded games will function the same when online or offline
No additional restrictions on trading games or loaning discs
Region locks have been dropped

It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

This was the right move for them to make, but it actually made things slightly worse for me for one reason: Now I have to buy the game digitally if I want to enjoy NOT having to have the damned disc in the tray to play.

I was really looking forward to just installing the handful of games I planned on playing and then switching back and forth as I pleased.

Looks like I have to buy directly from Microsoft if I want to enjoy that feature now. I suppose I will. Since games are going to allegedly be available on release day via download, I suppose that's fair enough, provided the connection isn't slowed to a crawl due to popularity (like when Call of Duty comes out again).

Honestly, though, why can't they have an 'opt in' option for disc-installed games? My Internet is up 99.99999999999999% of the time on fiber optic, and it's never been down for 24 hours straight. I would actually like to opt in if it means I can buy the disc but not need it constantly in the drive.

Then again, I suppose what's the difference other than the wait for the game to finish downloading, which would admittedly take a while on my 15Mbps line. And I think this means, am I right/wrong, that I can still log in to my Live account on any Xbox One and play my game on that box, right? Or not? I mean I understand that I can't share a disc-bought game (the digital kind of sharing they had talked about, not physical), but what about personally using the game on another system if I am logged into my own Live account?

Not a big deal, but curious to know the details.

Again, overall, I think Microsoft was wise to do this because it had put a bunch in a LOT of gamers' panties. More than I would have suspected.

The Following User Says Thank You to Hicks For This Useful Post:

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

We take a few steps forward towards all digital and now we are taking huge steps backwards. I am very dissapointed in this announcement. I was looking forward to buying all digital, reselling those, sharing my games with close friends, and not wasting space on boxes and DVDs.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

We take a few steps forward towards all digital and now we are taking huge steps backwards. I am very dissapointed in this announcement. I was looking forward to buying all digital, reselling those, sharing my games with close friends, and not wasting space on boxes and DVDs.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

So now M$ thinks the folks who swore off Xbox over their joke of a DRM strategy will now come flocking back? Some of them maybe, but I would bet a lot of the folks who already made up their mind for the PS4 stay that way.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

We take a few steps forward towards all digital and now we are taking huge steps backwards. I am very dissapointed in this announcement. I was looking forward to buying all digital, reselling those, sharing my games with close friends, and not wasting space on boxes and DVDs.

Its an idea that is probably a generation ahead of its time for consoles. Very similar to the early years of Steam.

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Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

To answer my own question from earlier, it appears that if you buy the game on a disc you will not be able to play on someone else's Xbox even if you are logged in to your live account.

However, if you buy it digitally, I believe you can still do that.

At this point, my plan is to just start buying my games digitally so that I can enjoy those features. Hopefully, when a game comes out, they let you start downloading it sometime after midnight so that you can let it download overnight and it will be ready for you the next day.

To answer my own question from earlier, it appears that if you buy the game on a disc you will not be able to play on someone else's Xbox even if you are logged in to your live account.

However, if you buy it digitally, I believe you can still do that.

At this point, my plan is to just start buying my games digitally so that I can enjoy those features. Hopefully, when a game comes out, they let you start downloading it sometime after midnight so that you can let it download overnight and it will be ready for you the next day.

You can play the disc on anyone's Xbox. It just won't work without the disc even if you install it. You will have a chance to "unlock" the content without the disc by buying purchasing it online.

Last edited by Kstat; 06-20-2013 at 02:02 AM.

It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

It was my understanding that you would ultimately be able to resell your game license and that when a new person buys it the game is uninstalled from your HDD and then installed on their HDD. Microsoft was really swinging for the fences to get this generation going towards a fully digital system and pretty much we are not going to have to wait another generation and continue to lag behind the PC world.

My other worry is how this will affect developers using the cloud for their single and online aspects of their game. A lot of the talk was developers could put a lot of stuff for both on the cloud and lift some of the burden from the game console. My guess that is not going to happen now since you can now play your game offline totally.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

This decision to back-track killed the core features that Microsoft was pushing. It was time to transition (not completely move) into a digital era. iTunes and Amazon made it a commonplace with music and books. No one cares about any restrictions with that.

The gaming media blew this out of proportion and a large group of people (fanboys maybe) used Microsoft's poor PR and wording of these policies against them. Microsoft had no choice but to bend then break.

The features we will be losing:

Digital Library: You have all of your games, disc-based or digitally saved into a catalog where you can access them anywhere, anytime with your Xbox Live account. Why wouldn't anyone enjoy this?

Game sharing with up to 10 people in your "family". If I buy a game, but my brother wants to "borrow" it because he's low on cash then, he can. No disc required. No need to drive 40 miles down the road to knock on his door and ask for the game back. Easy as that.

Reselling digital content. Not having to drive to GameStop to "trade-in" games you own. Being able to resell the license to a game you downloaded in lieu of putting money towards a new title like we do today with discs, but digitally.

DRM has now become a household term. It wasn't that big of a deal say two months ago, but everyone is now under the impression that DRM is bad. No. It's a measure that cuts down on fraud and holds everyone accountable for the content they own. The 24 hour check-in window was just a byproduct of this system. How would Microsoft know that you didn't circumvent measures to redistribute the game while offline? They're covering themselves with the license agreements they make with developers. It's anti-piracy. Which is hurting the videogame market. No the used games marketplace.

It's 2013. We live in a connected digital world. To say this technology is one step ahead of the curve is asinine. Reluctance is what is keeping these technologies from booming. The cloud is a great thing.

It's a shame Microsoft had to go this route. Now we have two consoles that practically do the same things that the current generation does, just in a shinier box and different controllers. Sure we might get better graphics, but now the features that made the Xbox One different from the PS4 (which just is a beefed-up PS3) are gone. We're now stuck in the same generation. The only difference a new shiny plastic cover.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

To answer my own question from earlier, it appears that if you buy the game on a disc you will not be able to play on someone else's Xbox even if you are logged in to your live account.

However, if you buy it digitally, I believe you can still do that.

At this point, my plan is to just start buying my games digitally so that I can enjoy those features. Hopefully, when a game comes out, they let you start downloading it sometime after midnight so that you can let it download overnight and it will be ready for you the next day.

Microsoft's Azure platform will spin a game up on the cloud and basically stream it like a YouTube video. It will still download but you'll be playing it while that happens. Something that the current system isn't capable of doing.

A majority of PS3 owners with 500 GB hard drives or after market hard drives (which Sony does allow you to do) that downloaded the firmware update bricked their machines. Sony has removed the patch and released a statement. As far as fixing bricked consoles, that is still up in the air.

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

The thing is, a lot of internet people are now complaining that Microsoft are flip-floppers-- I'm guessing that these folks are either trolls or wouldn't be happy if Microsoft handed each of them a free Xbox One.

I'm in the same boat as Hicks -- all the "downsides" of the originally announced XB1 either didn't effect me or didn't matter to me except the forced inclusion of the Kinect (I don't want one). This, in my opinion, puts the console war a lot closer. Comes down to which console's exclusives you like better and whether you want a Kinect or not.+

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

Yeah, the people complaining both before AND now seem silly to me. "Wah, I hate your choices!!" "You did what I wanted, but now you're a flip-flopper! Wah!!"

I mean . . . really? I understand that they believe Microsoft should have started with this position, but if this really mattered to them, who gives a **** that they had to change their minds so long as they got what they wanted before the console launched? Sounds like a bunch of loud whiners to me, and over something not really worth being so vocal about IMO.

By the way, is there a better current-events example of first world problems than this topic?

Re: Xbox One dropping DRM will not be always online (no this is not a joke)

The thing is, a lot of internet people are now complaining that Microsoft are flip-floppers-- I'm guessing that these folks are either trolls or wouldn't be happy if Microsoft handed each of them a free Xbox One.

I'm in the same boat as Hicks -- all the "downsides" of the originally announced XB1 either didn't effect me or didn't matter to me except the forced inclusion of the Kinect (I don't want one). This, in my opinion, puts the console war a lot closer. Comes down to which console's exclusives you like better and whether you want a Kinect or not.+

Anyone still complaining about Microsoft's decision that was complaining before is just a blind fanboy who would bash Microsoft if they invited the cure for cancer and gave it away for free.

Yeah, the people complaining both before AND now seem silly to me. "Wah, I hate your choices!!" "You did what I wanted, but now you're a flip-flopper! Wah!!"

I mean . . . really? I understand that they believe Microsoft should have started with this position, but if this really mattered to them, who gives a **** that they had to change their minds so long as they got what they wanted before the console launched? Sounds like a bunch of loud whiners to me, and over something not really worth being so vocal about IMO.

By the way, is there a better current-events example of first world problems than this topic?

Sony fanboys. That about sums it up.

It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

By the way, PRISM probably had more to do with this than any consumer backlash was getting. That story is going to get much worse before it gets any better. Microsoft would eventually be accused of basically putting spy cameras in people's homes. I'm sure they expected a big PR hit for their new features, but their connection to the PRISM program probably made it impossible to ever gain it back. The bad press would have amplified public outrage tenfold and killed the XboxOne in its infancy.

At least this way, people have the luxury of turning the camera off if they feel uncomfortable.

Last edited by Kstat; 06-20-2013 at 02:17 PM.

It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.